Mop-head.



No. 833,291. PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906. H. BITNER.

MOP HEAD.

APPLI QQQQ 0N FILED NOV. 18, 1905.

HARRY BITNER, OF BERWYN, ILLINOIS.

MOP-HEAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed November 18, 1905. Serial No. 287,936.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, HARRY BITNER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Berwyn, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mop-Heads, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mop-heads, and is fully described and explained in this specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is afront elevation of my improved mop-head. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section in the line 3 3 of Fig. .1, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the lower ends of the lever viewed from the rear.

Referring to the drawings, A is a stick upon which is mounted a cross-head B, grooved along its lower edge and notched at its ends to receive and cooperate with a bail O, which acts to clamp a rag or swab between it and the cross-head. The upper end of these bails converge toward the stick and terminate in short downwardly-turned hooks c, which run through holes in ears (1 on a lever D. The lever D is preferably comparatively thin, as illustrated in the drawings, being either of sheet or cast metal. It will be seen that this lever has two longitudinally-extending parallel arms D, each of which is troughshaped in cross-section and preferably V- shaped, as illustrated. The lower ends of the arms D are closed by small webs or end pieces (1 of metal, Fig. 4.. The two upper ends of the arms D are connected together by a fiat web of metal, which is continued upwardly to form a handle (P. The two cars d, heretofore mentioned, are formed by prolonging the outer sides of the arms D.

Springs E surround the arms D, as illustrated, and operate to hold in place downwardly-projecting ends f on a fulcrum-piece F, preferably of wire, formed, as illustrated in the drawings, with a central portion which conforms to the lateral curve of the stick and the downwardly-projecting ends f. The fulcrum-piece F is pivotally secured to the stick by means of a staple G.

In assembling my improved mop the springs are placed upon the arms of the lever and crowded up toward the handle of the lever, so as to bare the lower ends of the arms. The fulcrum-piece F is then laid in place with its upwardly-projecting ends in the hollows of the trough-shaped arms and its central portion above the end pieces (1 of the arms. Thereupon the springs are released from pressure and move upward, so as to surround the upwardly-projecting ends on the fulcrumpieceF and hold the same in place. The end pieces of the arms then engage with the central portion of the fulcrum-piece F and limit downward movement of the same in the arms. The springs, lever, and fulcrum-piece can be assembled, as above set forth, at any stage of the general assembling of the mop-head, and the remainder of the assembling operation is a perfectly simple mechanical matter.

am cognizant of the prior issue of the McWilliams patent, No. 335,295, which resembles my improved mop-head in some particulars.

The object of my present invention is to so improve this mop as to make it a commercial article which can be manufactured and sold so as to compete with the modern mops now on sale. To accomplish this purpose, it is particularly desirable to minimize the amount and complexity of the assembling operations as well as to decrease the weight of the parts as much as possible. By my construction I obtain a lever with a movable fulcrum-piece and a spring resistance between the lever and the fulcrum-piece, in which construction the fulcrum-piece is automatically held in place on the lever by the action of the spring, so that no riveting, bending, or the like is necessary in assembling the parts. Furthermore, by making the fulcrum-piece in the form of a comparatively light bar of metal, the ends of which lie inside the arms of the lever instead of the outside, I am enabled to bring the arms of the lever much closer together than would otherwise be possible, thus making the device more compact and simultaneously decreasing the material of the arm-connecting members of the lever.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A device of the class described having in combination a stick, a crossehead on the lower end of the stick, a bail running over the cross-head, a lever having two substantially parallel trough-shaped arms, a fulcrum-piece pivotally secured to the stick and having ends lying in the hollows of the trough-shaped arms of the lever and springs surrounding the arms and holding the ends of the fulcrumpiece in place.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stick, a cross-head and a bail running over the cross-head, of a lever having two parallel trough-shaped arms closed at their ends, a fulcrum-piece pivotally secured to the stick, upwardly-extending end pieces on said fulcrum-piece lying in the hollows of said trough-shaped arms, and springs surrounding the arms and holding the arms of the fulcrum-piece in place.

3. The combination with a stick, a crosshead, and a bail, of a lever to which the ends of the bail are pivoted, parallel, longitudinally-extending, hollow, trough-shaped arms closed at their ends on said lever and lying on opposite sides of the stick, a fulcrum-piece pivotally secured to the stick and curved to conform thereto, upwardly-extending ends on said fulcrum-piece lying in the hollows of the arms, and springs surrounding the arms and arranged to hold the ends of the fulcrumpiece in place in said arms.

In witness whereof I have signed the above application for Letters Patent, at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 6th day of November, A. D. 1905.

' HARRY BITNER. 'Witnesses:

CHAs. O. SI-IERVEY, K. M. CORNWALL. 

